Our 2025 Formula 1 DRIVERS’ Championship Predictions
Jay Oh
With pre-season testing officially coming to an end and the inaugural season beginning in just a week, we at the VistaRossa team present to you: our official World Drivers’ Championship predictions for the upcoming 2025 Formula 1 season.
World Drivers’ Championship
P20: Gabriel Bortoleto - Kick Sauber
It isn’t new knowledge that this young Brazilian rookie has showcased his talent in his last few years in motorsport, winning both the Formula 3 and Formula 2 championships in his rookie season. However, despite his merit and rapid rise to Formula 1, he will be driving for the Kick Sauber team, which is arguably the slowest (proportional to the grid) car the sport has seen in a while. Combined with his inexperience, we believe that it may be a while before he comes close to where he was in the junior Formula series. Desculpe, Gabriel.
P19: Jack Doohan - Alpine
Although the Alpine isn’t as near as bad a car as the Sauber, the reasoning behind this pick is the fact that Doohan may not be completing the full season. With Alpine having signed Franco Colapinto who has been proven to deliver results with a sub-par car with Williams last season, the Enstone-based team may be looking to replace the Australian rookie sooner rather than later. Each race missed is a miss on points, and this is what will put him lower in the championship standings this season.
P18: Oliver Bearman - Haas
Despite Bearman having a stellar points-scoring drive with Haas last season when subbing in for Kevin Magnussen, the grid this upcoming season may just be too competitive for Bearman to climb up the places as easy. Once again, inexperience comes into play, and despite having two F1 races under his belt, the rookie driver may be crash prone in his first full season, and may become something of another Mick Schumacher for Haas, showing high potential, but unable to deliver—for now. Although pre-season testing does not predetermine anything, it was clear that Haas was a long way back from any other team, with the rest of the grid gapping them by a couple seconds or more every session.
P17: Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber
As much everyone loves this veteran driver, we think that his hunt for his first podium to end his eternity-long streak is still in the making. While Hulkenberg is a proven talented driver who is able to make miracles happen in backmarker cars, the Sauber of this season might just be too underperforming, even for the Hulk to carry on his back. In hopes to end his podium-less streak with Audi in 2026, the German driver may have to “tank” another year without one.
P16: Esteban Ocon - Haas
Having just left his long-time team Alpine, Esteban Ocon is no stranger to Formula 1. The Frenchman knows how to deliver results at times, and occasionally shows up on the podium. However, with Haas showing pace problems in testing sessions, it may be a while before they can score the consistent points finishes this season that seemed so likely after their best finish in a while last season. Though Ocon is a veteran of F1 now, he is not one to make miracles happen, and this will place him lower in the order by the end of the season.
P15: Isack Hadjar - RB
Isack Hadjar showed promise in Formula 2, just being knocked out of the championship fight in the season finale in Abu Dhabi due to a stalled start, ruining his chances of taking the crown from Gabriel Bortoleto. It is clear that Hadjar possess talent in motor racing; however, he will be fairly mistake-prone in his first season, similar to the debut season of Yuki Tsunoda, also sharing his short temper and vulgar mouth. Formula 1 is a very stressful atmosphere, and it may take the Red Bull junior a year or two to adjust to it, especially under the high-pressure Red Bull family.
P14: Lance Stroll - Aston Martin
Despite having a fairly impressive first few seasons in the sport, Stroll has been on a clear downward slope in Formula 1, both in performance and mentality, with more and more rookie-like mistakes showing in his recent races, especially in the previous 2024 season. This will be his first year driving a car that has the “Adrian Newey touch;” however, it will not be a “Newey car” from the beginning of the season as the British engineer has only just started his first day with the team. This, combined with his arguably avoidable mistakes that occur throughout the season, will see the Canadian driver finish lower in the order this season.
P13: Yuki Tsunoda - RB
Tsunoda is another driver that is no stranger to the sport, having joined AlphaTauri (now RB) in 2020 and have stayed in the same team every since, though the team itself has gone through a branding change. With last year’s teammate Liam Lawson being favored by Red Bull to join the senior team alongside Max Verstappen, it seems that this may be Tsunoda’s final year with the Red Bull family.
P12: Alexander Albon - Williams
Now entering his fourth year with the Williams team, Albon is still searching for his first race win and his third podium finish, two of which he achieved with the Red Bull Racing team. Though it seems to be looking up for the Williams team in recent years, it does not seem that Albon is in a position this year where he will be able to do either of those achievements. With a P16 finish in the final standings in the previous season, we believe that the Thai driver will be able to score multiple points finishes to finish slightly higher this season.
P11: Pierre Gasly - Alpine
After a fierce battle with ex-teammate Esteban Ocon for the lead driver’s seat at Alpine for the past two years, Pierre Gasly has now secured that number one seat, serving as a mentor for incoming rookie driver Jack Doohan. While Gasly is a multi-talented and fairly experienced driver who is more than capable of leading a team, the Alpine cars have shown inconsistencies several times over the last few years, with the Renault E-Tech engine not being reliable over multiple race weekends. Due to this, Gasly will have weekends where he loses points to factors that are out of his control, putting him one position lower in the standings than he was last season.
P10: Carlos Sainz - Williams
As much as it hurts to see him this low in the standings, it seems unlikely that the beloved Spanish driver will be within the single-digit positions this season. Though he is an extremely talented driver who has shown on several occasions that he is able to deliver results, there is only so much even he can do when put in a team that is actively trying to escape the backmarks. Aiming to return the Williams team to its former glory, it looks like Sainz has his work cut out for him for the next few seasons.
P9: Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin
This is another generational talent who we wish to see in the top three, contending for the championship, but is limited by his car. Alonso is the most experienced driver in Formula 1 history with two world titles and searching for his 33rd win. Though the engineering wizard Adrian Newey has entered the team, it will take at least a year for the car to be a championship contender. This season, Alonso will be able to carry the Aston Martin into consistent points finishes, just bringing him into the top nine in the standings.
P8: Andrea Kimi Antonelli - Mercedes-AMG
The highest placement of the rookies (not counting Liam Lawson), Kimi Antonelli becomes the youngest Mercedes F1 driver in history, and one of the youngest drivers in the sport’s history. Debuting at just 18 years old, the Italian driver has clearly shown enough promise and potential to be fast-tracked into the works Mercedes team. However, Antonelli may see himself in a multitude of incidents caused by rookie errors due to his inexperience in the sport, causing him to miss out on important points finishes throughout the season. With the Mercedes car yet to be a championship contender in the ground-effect era, Antonelli will be taking the last place of the drivers of the big four teams.
P7: Liam Lawson - Red Bull Racing
Is he a rookie? Some say yes, others say no. Rookie or not, this young driver has just 11 F1 Grands Prix under his belt, making him the most inexperienced driver to enter the Red Bull senior team. Still, he is shown to be able to hold his own against even the most experienced drivers such as Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez, making him a considerable force to be reckoned with. However, it was clear from the response of both Red Bull drivers that the car is not expected to deliver from the opening races, which may see Lawson miss out on important finishes.
P6: George Russell - Mercedes-AMG
It was P6 in 2024, and it will be P6 again for the now number one Mercedes driver. Russell is a driver who knows how to drive to deliver points, but at times makes costly mistakes that cause devastating losses. Further, Mercedes does not seem to have regained the pace they used to have in the earlier turbo-hybrid era, making it just the more difficult for their drivers to deliver. Everything aside, it seems like Russell’s hunt for his first title will continue on into the 2026 regulation changes.
P5: Oscar Piastri - McLaren
Entering just his third year into Formula 1, Oscar Piastri has proven his worth time and time again in the past two seasons. With McLaren evidently the car to beat after last season’s performance bringing them the Constructors’ title over Ferrari, Piastri has all the resources that he needs to win races. However, Piastri has shown to be inconsistent in his race finishes at times, losing him points that he will need to elevate him higher in the championship standings. While the young Australian shows potential, he does not seem to be a championship contender just yet.
P4: Lewis Hamilton - Scuderia Ferrari
A global star and a world-class driver, Lewis Hamilton is no stranger to the Formula 1 circus. Being seen by many as the greatest to ever do it, Hamilton has been searching for his record-breaking eighth world title since 2021. However, with problems arising with the Ferrari car after testing, it may be a while before the Britain can get back up to speed. While it is no surprise that he can deliver whenever, wherever—it just may not be enough to break into the top three for this season, and it might be another year before we seen number 44 on top once more.
P3: Lando Norris - McLaren
Having finished the previous season as an “almost” championship contender and in a personal best of P2 in the final standings, Norris is a young driver who is on the hunt for his first title, which seems more likely nowadays due to the sheer pace of the McLaren in recent days. However, Norris is still very prone to mistakes, especially on race starts where he more often than not throws away pole positions and drops down the grid, which costs him during the race. This may see him lose out on crucial points, dropping him down in the close multi-driver championship fight.
P2: Max Verstappen - Red Bull Racing
As his official Formula 1 bio says, “He’s max by name, and Max by nature.” The “Flying Dutchman” and the current world champion has been the face of Formula 1 for the past four years, showing an unbelievable amount of pace and talent that puts his name up with some of the greatest in the history of the sport. He is known to extract results even when the odds are stacked against him, making miracles happen when no one else could. However, as he stated himself in a post-testing interview, it was clear that Red Bull’s RB21 was nowhere near where they wanted it to be for the opening races of the season, lacking pace and stability. This could see Verstappen just shy of a record-equalling fifth consecutive title, just losing out in a few Grands Prix to his rivals.
World Champion: Charles Leclerc - Scuderia Ferrari
He wins in Spa, he wins in Monza—he wins the World Drivers’ Championship. Ferrari’s golden boy and Monaco’s hero, Charles Leclerc has been on the hunt for his first world title for multiple years now. He came close at the start of 2022, just to have Ferrari lose it all with an unreliable engine and devastatingly bad strategies. This season; however, is the one where the Monegasque boy who has lost so much can win, the one where the arguably most unlucky driver in Formula 1 will be able to push through all odds and take the glory of a world title. With the team that he has spent every year but one of his Formula 1 career, Charles Leclerc is VistaRossa’s predicted World Champion for the 2025 Formula 1 season. It has been a long time coming, but the time is here now. For the first time ever, Charles Leclerc will be champion of the world.